Flight prices to India

[WanderLustingLane]

We are planning a trip to Goa for two years time and need a budget to plan to and save for, I'm searching the web and can only find flights for around 700!
I wasn't expecting them to be fifty quid or anything but I don't see how we are ever going to save it we have five of us to pay for.....
I was hoping for budget of
2000 flights
1000 accommodation (air BNB home combined with some nights in the beach huts roughly 15 per night)
1500 spending money (food and drink is apparently very reasonable over there, plus a few excursions to the spice plantation etc)

Has anyone been and if so does my budget sound reasonable and could I ask how much your flights were and how who did you book with?

We want hoping to go over Xmas and new year, 2-3 weeks.
Thanks!!

[Troubleinstore]

Just looking at your figures 5 people x 3 weeks = 105 nights in total. Divided by £1000 is £9.52 per night each.
I'd seriously think again.

[fairraid]

Flights will be the most expensive apsect of the holiday. Being in India itself is cheap as chips. You won't need £1000 for accommodation. I went 2 years ago and £700 return flights sounds familiar. Its worth it, Goa is great.

[Frazzled2207]

Presumably you are looking at scheduled flights? i know charters go to Goa which out to be cheaper.

[harderandharder2breathe]

How did you decide on the flights budget without looking at the actual cost of flights?

[HighDataUsage]

www.expedia.co.uk/#search

[Carollocking]

Your figures are pretty good and yes can find all for that kind money. Though flights obviously depend on time of year as can be as little as 300 each

[Parker231]

If you want to go at Christmas you will pay much more for flights. We paid £1300 per person for flights last Christmas.

[LagunaBubbles]

Just looking at your figures 5 people x 3 weeks = 105 nights in total

Im missing your point sorry, surely 3 weeks is only 21 nights??

[LagunaBubbles]

Christmas is a very expensive time, start to look on Skyscanner at flights and monitor prices for different times of year, different days of the week, indirect flights etc.

[Whatthefreakinwhatnow]

Maybe go at a different time of year? My physio I was seeing for SPD in November was from India and was saying the flights to go home for xmas were extortionate, but if they go in March it is much cheaper.

[WanderLustingLane]

I didn't decide on it I was hoping I could work around a similar budget, doesn't have to be exact, just overall wanted to see if anyone had done similar with a budget of around 4500 - 5000 for family of five.

If the accomadation for example was 700 then 300 could be added to spending money.
1500 spending I have been told by many people is more than enough for Goa to eat and drink, dinner/nights only.

[WanderLustingLane]

Thank you to everyone who has been helpful, I am thinking a different time of year we may have to go for, obviously school holidays though, so not sure if price will still be high.
My line of thinking is that the more we save on flights the more spending money we will have.
Interesting to see others have found flights a lot cheaper, I have heard lots that Goa is cheap once you are there.
My line of thinking was breakfast lunch etc will be at the house, and we will go out at night.
I don't quite get the workings out but if we went for two weeks for example I am guessing 1500 is plenty for 14 nights it eating dinner and some tikets to the spice plantation, or perhaps I am delusional
I can't save any more than 5000 unfortunately

[WanderLustingLane]

Laguna thanks I am fpi to check out sky scanner now

[InTheDessert]

I wonder if this will refresh and loose the info.

Manchester to goa out in Dec and return in Jan for under £600

[motherinferior]

I don't know about goa but you can fly to Chennai for about £450 return. I did it last month. Are you only looking at direct flights? If you change in the Middle East you can get the price right down.

[FlindersKeepers]

I spent Christmas just past in South India, ending my trip in Goa. Rather than try only online, we went via a travel agent who managed to get us Etihad flights (in Trivandrum, out Goa) for under 700e and we were very lucky. A good travel agent can find deals that not even the best search engines can.
It is peak season, not only as Goa has a large Christian population, but also it is a hugely popular place for Indians to spend New Year.
Does it have to be Goa? I preferred Kerala to be really honest, it is also much cheaper. Goa is getting more popular with package tours (especially for Russians, which may be your thing or not), there were quite a few British people in the airport moaning that they wanted Thailand but cheaper, but hey, horses for courses.
Is it for 5 adults?

[Brokenbiscuit]

Never been to goa but we often fly to Delhi. Flight costs do really vary at different times of year. Typically, we pay around £600 - £700. We usually go with JET airways, don't like Air India. The cheapest way is usually to go with one of the gulf airlines but sometimes that means quite long transit times.

[Eatingcheeseontoast]

I haven't been to Goa but have been to. Kerala which was amazing and not v touristy which Goa can be.. You might be able to get a charter flight cheaper. But 700 sounds about right that time of year.

The tea plantations are great. You can eat v cheaply and well in India, vegetable thalis for a £1 and fresh coconuts to drink. Staying in a basic place v cheap too.

You'll have to factor in visas and vaccinations and insurance.

[WanderLustingLane]

I am going to look into Kerala, have not considered it before.
I would prefer direst flights as we will have three children,but I suppose I have a budget and beggers can't be choosers

Goa in particular we were interested in as we wanted to go to the spice plantation, and visit the old towns and see the cathedrals and markets.
We wished to see the cows on the beaches and hoping some kind of elephant excursions maybe, would love to wash them in the Rivers
If this sort of thing we can see and experience in Kerala then definitely doesn't have to be Goa.

If we didn't have kids and had more money we would see the Taj Mahal, go to Mumbai and Jaipur etc

[Kiroro]

Im missing your point sorry, surely 3 weeks is only 21 nights??

5 people for 3 weeks is 105 person nights. (7 days 3 weeks 5 people = 105)

[NorksAkimbo72]

Please, please be careful about elephant excursions...many of them are rife with abuse of these captured animals. I just moved back to the UK after living in India for two years, and learned fairly quickly that many elephant operations are not regulated at all, so the animals are treated very poorly. There are a number of fantastic elephant rehab/conservation centres, so try to check those out if you can.
Also, food is inexpensive, but alcohol is extortinate, so either plan on not drinking a great deal, or budget a bit extra. If you are a drinker, beware random dry days and if you decide to go to Kerala, there is a maximum allowed purchase on alcohol per person in liquor stores.
Friends of ours who travelled over from the UK went with Ethiad airlines, and managed to get flights for 4 for around £1500 total. The flights were at fairly bizarre times, but they didn't mind, so you can get them fairly cheaply. They went through a travel agent, so that might be the way to go.
Kerala and Goa are both amazing choices...and the airbnb house we rented in Kerala came with staff, so we didn't even have to cook while we were there (and the meals were delicious and cheap!).
Enjoy...it's an amazing place to visit, I really wish I had enjoyed living there more!

[LuchiMangsho]

I fly to India a lot. 2000 for 5 people return is unrealistic. I pay 550-600 non peak to fly to a city without a direct connection (I fly via Mumbai or Delhi). In peak times (i.e. Winter) when most people go to Goa you will pay close to 800 GBP per head.
Don't go in the monsoons or the summer btw. It will be unbearable.

[LuchiMangsho]

Cows on the beach? Is that a thing?!
There are cows everywhere in India. What with being a sacred animal and all that.

[FlorenceandtheWashingMachine]

I too much preferred Kerala to Goa. Amazing place!

[GeorginaMihai]

I think it's certainly doable! But I'd suggest you look for a temp flat or a guest house. Last time I was in India, I got a decent flat for a month in the city for about 150 quid (came with a kitchen and security and all that for a 1 bedroom flat!) - but then, you need someone you know in India to book this for you as you can't usually book them online - and its best you have someone check the property and area out first. And you'll need between 5-20 pounds in total for a meal if you eat out at a average place, depending on how old the other 4ppl are (kids for e.g.). But cooking at home would definitely be around 5 quid a night altogether. This would surely get you that extra flight money? Also, Christmas is when flights are the most expensive!